Tokyo Stocks Sag in Morning on U.S. Jobs Data

Tokyo, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)--Stocks sagged on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Monday morning, with investor sentiment hurt by worse-than-expected
U.S. jobs data released on Friday.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down
106.89 points, or 1.11 pct, at 9,535.23. On Friday, the key market gauge
slid 11.80 points.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 7.09 points,
or 0.82 pct, at 854.08, after gaining 4.08 points the previous market day.
The Tokyo market, like U.S. equities on Friday, lost ground due to
growing uncertainties about the U.S. economy after the employment data
showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls in July fell by 131,000 from the previous
month. The median forecast by research institutes in a Jiji Press poll was a
decline of 65,000.
However, Tokyo stocks were range-bound, with investors waiting for
the outcome of monetary policy meetings in Japan and the United States this
week, brokers said.

A market focus was whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will take
additional monetary easing measures at its policy-setting meeting on
Tuesday, brokers said.
"If the Fed decides on additional measures, the dollar could fall
against the yen," which would in turn pressure the Tokyo stock market, Yumi
Nishimura, deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co.,
said.
In addition, "investors were waiting to see whether the Bank of
Japan will comment on the yen's recent strength, although it will probably
not make monetary policy changes" at its two-day meeting from Monday,
Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., said.
In such a wait-and-see mood, stocks that were ripe for bargain
hunting or those of companies that have drastically revised up their
full-year earnings projections continued to attract buying from late last
week, Otani said.
Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,004 to 470 on the TSE's
first section in the morning, while 159 issues were unchanged.
Half-day volume came to 590 million shares.

Exporters were hit by selling on the yen's strength. High-tech
companies Toshiba, Hitachi and Sharp were downbeat, along with automakers
Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Nonferrous metal smelters Sumitomo Metal Mining, Mitsubishi
Materials and Dowa Holdings slid, as did steelmakers Nippon Steel, JFE and
Sumitomo Metal Industries.
Consumer electronics retailer Kojima dived 7.44 pct after the
company said Friday it incurred a group net loss in April-June, against a
profit a year earlier, according to a market source.
By contrast, nonbank lenders Credit Saison, Aiful and Promise
gained ground.
Tire maker Bridgestone grew after announcing Friday upward
revisions to its group operating profit projection and annual dividend plan
for the year through March.